Door mechanism for railway cars



March 11 19240 11,486,213

W. E. WINE DOOR MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed June 8, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3&62113 2 sheeis sheet 2 March 11 1924-.

W. E. WINE DOOR MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed June 8. 1923 'appertains Patentedirlar, ll, ild do I the WELLIAMI E. WINE, 9F TGLEDQ, GHQ.

0R MECHANISM 330R RAILW'BIZ Application filed. June 8,

To aZZ whbm it may concern.

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. WINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Mechanism for- Railway Cars; and 1 do hereby declare the following to he a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it to make and use the same. My invention relates to door mechanism for railway cars and has for its objects, among others, to provide improved features of door construction, toail'ord an advantageous arrangement of door arms for maintaining the door in closed position, and to' provide improved means for enabling the door to be forced to fully closed position by means of a removable lever or prying bar.

A primary feature of the invention, generally stated, consists in providing the hinged door or" a railway car with a marginal flange bordering its 'free edge, and in rigidly securing to said flange in overlapping relation a flanged member having an inwardly extending portion disposed parallel to the lane of the door and spaced therefrom, the oor having secured thereto a plurality of door supporting arms passing beneath and having engagement with the said flanged member, and movable means, preferably formed as hooks, being mounted upon the car body for cooperating with the door arms to support the door in closedposition.

Another feature of the invention consists in, securing to the hinged door of a railway car a plurality of door supporting arnis which extend obliquely to the hinge axis of the door, said arms being convergent outwardly and having portions wh1ch proyeet beyond the, free edge of the door for cooperation with doorsupporting hooks movably mounted u on the car body.

A still urther feature of the inventionconsists in providing the hinged door of a railway car with a central stiffener which terminates at its outer end adjacent the free edge of the door,

door upon opposite sides of said stiilener,

a plurality of door arms whose outer ends project beyond the door so as to cooperate with supporting hoolrspivotally mounted upon the car body, the door also being provided with means constituting a lever seat located at the outer end of the door stiland in. securing to said of such openings is 1922. Serial in. saline,

features of the invention residing in special relations of parts and in advantageous details of construction.

In the drawings chosen for the purpose of illustrating the preferred mode of applying the principle of the invention, the scope whereof is pointed out in the claims:-

Figure l is a horizontal section of a portion of a car showing door mechanism embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a detail view in side elevation of the portion of the car illustrated in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a'detail section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, an open position of the hinged door and the car clearance line, which is designated by the reference letter A, being indicated in dotted lines.

The car illustrated in the drawings will be recognized as of the gondola type but'it is to be understood that the invention claimed is not limited to cars of that charactor. The side 1 of the'car may advantageously he formed of 'a steel plate having a ottom flange angle 2 secured along the lower edge thereof by means of rivets 3.

The angle iron 2 engages the inner face of the side sheet of the car and its horizontal leg extends inwardly. Any desired center sill construction may be employed in the car, such for eira nple as the customary center sill channels 4i and their connecting cover pl 1 5. Die hragms or cross bearers '6, preferably fanged and formed of pressed metal, may advantageously extend from the adjacent center sill outwardly to the side of the car where they are riveted to the lower ends of side stakes 7 which are secured to the car side and whose lower' ends project downwardly beyond the lower edge ofthe side plate 1. Between adjacent diaphragrns 6 a door opening is formed in the floor of the car; in some cars a plurality rovided. In the pres ent exemplification oi my invention the outer edge 8 of the door opening is defined by the inner edge of the horizontal leg or the lien e angle 2 bordering the lower edge the car; the inner edge 9 of the door opening is side of its center line, it is to be understood that the same features of construction are incorporated in the portion of the car lying upon the opposite side of the center line.

The door openings are closed by hin ed doors 12.. Each of these doors is prefera ly constructed from a steel plate formed with a down-turned marginal flange 13 at its hinged edge and with a down-turned marginal flange 14 bordering the free edge of the door remote from the hinge axis. The hinging of the door may be advantageously effected by means of suitable cooperating body hinges 15 and door hinges 16, which are pivotally connected by a hinge pintle '17 extendin longitudinally of the car, the hinge axis icing preferably positioned in close proximity to the neighboring edge of the center sill cover plate 5. The body hinges 15 may be secured by rivets to the outer faces of the respectively corresponding center sill channels 4, while the door hinges 16 may be attached to the door by means of rivets through the intervention of flanged door stiffening members 18. In the present construction three sets of hinges are employed, one set being located at each side of the door and the third set being positioned approximately midway between the two side hinges.

The stiffening members 18 extending from the side hinges along the respective side edges of the door are preferably of channel form, the upper flange of the channel being of somewhat greater width than the lower flange, and said upper flange being in engagement with the undersurface of the door and being secured thereto by rivets passing through the door plate. The door is also provided with an intermediatestiflener 19 extending from the central hinge outwardly and termirating adjacent the marginal flange 14 at the free edge of the door remote from the hinge axis. This centrally di posed stiflener is preferably formed as an angle iron whose horizontal flange is riveted to the door plate. The rear ends of the stifleners 18 and 19 are preferably interposed between the'door plate and the door hinge members and these several parts may be respectively connected by common rivets.

For the purpose of further stiffening the free edge of the door remote from the hinge axis and to afl'ord supporting seats or beari resents ings for the door arms, as Well as to provide a lever seat for cooperating with a removable door prying lever, a flanged member 20 is secured to the door in parallel relation to the marginal door flange 14. The flange stiffening member 20 may be in the form of an angle iron Whose vertical leg overlaps and is riveted to the door flange 14, and

whose horizontal le extends inwgardly in parallel spaced relation to the plane of the door 12. The flanged member 20 is preferably of suflicient length to extend substantially the full width of the door so as to overlap the stifi'ening members 18. The horizontal le of the angle iron 20 thus provides, as will hereinafter appear an effective and substantial lever seat near the outer end of the intermediate door stilfe'ner 19, and it also provides eflicient bearings or seats for the door arms through which the the free edge of the door. The door arms 21 are bent or inclined downwardly sufliciently to bring their upper flanges into abutting engagement with the horizontal leg of the flanged member 20, rivets 22 being employed for securing said arms to said member 20. The outer ends 23 of the angle iron door arms project outwardly beyond the plane of the side plate 1 so as to constitute locking faces or seats for cooperating with door supporting members ivotally mounted upon the outer face of the car side. The projecting outer ends 23 of the door arm angle irons 21 are preferably disposed horizontally and maintain the same oblique direction as the adjacent portions of the arms which are immediately beneath the door. The inclination of the door arms 21 with respect to each other is such thatthey converge outwardly, thus causing their outer ends 23 to be closer together than are their rear ends and thereby spacing the outer ends of the arms at a substantial distance from the side edges of the doori and at a correspondingly less distance from the central door stifl'ener 19 and the lever seat adjacent thereto.

The means for cooperatingiwit-h the door arms 21 to support the door in closed posi-. tion preferably comprise books 24 of a type now well known. These hooks are pivoted upon rivets 25 and 116 mounted upon the side of the car by means of brackets 26.

ea ers Pivoted locking cams 27 may be employed to maintain the respective hooks 24 in locked position. The hooks are preferably arranged to swin in planes parallel with the outer face of t e car side so as to engage the outer ends of the door arms 21 at a relatively short distance from the free edge of the door.

' When a door of this character is designed to be lifted by hand to a preliminary position in which the door is not entirely closed, it is desirable to provide means for forcing it to a final position of closure. To support the door temporarily in an approximately closed position, the supporting hooks 24 are, as shown, commonly provided with auxiliary supporting ledges 28 in addition to ledges 28 'for cooperating with the outer ends 23 of the door arms to-maintain the door entirely closed. The forcing-of the door from its partly closed position to a fully closed position is now commonly effected by employing a removable lever or prying bar. To cooperate with such a lever a fulcrum plate 29 having a hole 30 through which the end of the lever or bar (not shown) may be inserted, is rigidly-secured to the outer face of the car side between the hooks 24 adjacent to and preferably in alinement with the centrally disposed door stifiener 19. lhe fulcrum plate 29 thus permits the rear end of the door'prying lever to be brought into engagement with the horizontal leg of the stifi'ening angle 20 at the outer end of the intermediate stidening member 19 of the door, thus enabling the prying force applied to close the door to be resisted and distributed by both door stiffening members 19 and 20 as well as by the door flange 14. lhe prying force applied to the door by the removable lever is in great measure efliciently trans-1 mitted to the door arms 21 by the marginal flange 14 and theadjacent angle iron 20 secured thereto, thereby enabling the outer ends 23 of the door arms to be readily forced upwardly to positions where they may be seated upon the upper ledges 28 of the su porting hooks. The facility with which t e final closing operation of the'door may be eiiected is also contributed to by the fact that the bearings of the door arms upon the flanged member 20 at the free edge of the door are somewhat removed from the side edges of the door and are not far distant from the point on the doorto which the prying force of the lever is ap' lied, since such an arrangement reduces the bending or spring of the parts. this arrangement of parts advantageous during the operation of forcing the door to fully closed positiombut it also results in a disposition of the supporting hooks at points removed from the side edges of the door and thus results in decreasing the Not only is amount of yielding or springing of the door and the bending stresses to which it is subjected. By disposing the door arms so that they diverge from the free edge of the door, toward'the hinge axis of the latter, the door resists the load upon it in an eflicientmanher; and in that the door arms conver e towards their outer ends the loadupon t e door is communicated to the car side in an advantageous way. The entire mechanism is tied together and braced so as to provide a practical door construction for use with hooks pivotally mounted upon the car side and all parts of the mechanism in whatever positions they may! assume are well within the clearance line A of the car.

1. In car door mechanism, the combination with a hinged door provided'with a marginalfiange, of a flangedmember rigidly secured to said door and overlappingly engaging the marginal flange thereof, one of the flanges of said flanged member being disposed at van angle to the said door flange-an arm secured to said door and projecting outwardly beyond the said flanged member and door flange, said arm passing beneath and having engagement with the flange of said flanged member which is ang'ularly disposed with respect to the marginal flange of the door, and means.

'neath and engaging said flanged member,

and means movably mounted upon the car body for respectively cooperating with said arms to support the door in closed position.

3. In car door mechanism, the combination with a hinged door provided with a flange, of a flanged member secured to said door in overlapping relation to the flange thereof, said flanged member having a flange extending parallel to said door flange and having another flange disposed parallel and in spaced relation to the plane of said door, an arm secured to said door and projecting outwardly beyond said flanged member, said arm having a plurality of angularly disposed fianges one of which engages the last named flange of said flanged member, and

means movably mounted upon the car body til for cooperating with said arm to support said door in closed position,

42. In car door mechanism, the combination with a hinged door provided with a marginal flange, of a flanged member overlappingly engaging said door flange and rigidly secured to the latter, said flanged member having an inwardly extending portion spaced from the plane of said door, a plurality of arms secured to said door and rigidly connected to the inwardly projecting portion of said flanged member, said arms passin flange, and means movably mounted upon the car body for respectively cooperating with said arms to support said door in closed position.-

- 5. In car door mechanism, the combination witha hinged door provided with a marginal flange, of a flanged member rigidly secured to said door flange, said flanged member being provided with a portion disposed at an angle to said door flange in spaced relation to the plane of said door, an arm secured to said door and projecting outwardly beyond said door flange, said aim being provided with a flange'passing beneath and enga ing said flanged member, and means mova ly mounted upon the car body for cooperating with said arm to support said door in closed position. i

6. In car door mechanism, the combina tion with a hinged door, of door supporting arms secured to said door and projecting beyond an edge thereof, said arms extending at an angle to each other, and means movably mounted upon the car body for cooperating with said arms to support the door in closed position. I

7. In car door mechanism, the combination with a hinged door, of a plurality of door supporting arms secured to said door said arms projecting beyond said door and having portions extending obliquely with respect to the hinge axis of said door, and means movably mounted upon the car body for cooperating with said arms to support said door in closed position.

8. In car door mechanism, the combination. with a hinged door, of a plurality of door supporting arms secured thereto, said arms having portions projecting beyond the free edge of said door opposite the hinge axis thereof and being divergent inwardly, and means movably mounted upon the car body for cooperating with said arms to support said door in closed position.

9. In car door mechanism, the combina tion with a hinged door, of-a plurality of door supporting arms secured thereto, said arms projecting beyond the free edge of said door opposite the hinge axis thereof and respectively extending in directions intersecting adjacent edges of said door at obbeneath and projecting outwardly beyon said flanged member and said door inseam lique an les, said arms being secured to said door ad acent-the edges of the latter, and means movably mounted upon the car body for cooperating with saidarms to support said door in closed position.

10. In car door mechanism, the combinaber secured to said door between said arms and extending at an angle to the latter, and

means movably mounted upon the car body for cooperating with said arms to support said door in closed position 11. In car door mechanism, the combination with a hinged door, of stiffening flanges respectively bordering the side edges of said door, a flanged member rigidly secured to.

said door adjacent the free edge thereof remote from the hinge-axis and angularly disposed with respect to said stiflening flanges,

.a plurality of door arms terminating at their rear ends adjacent said stiflening flanges I and passing beneath and projecting beyond. the said flanged member at the free edge of the door, and means movably mounted upon the car body for cooperating with said arms to support said door in closed position.

12. In car door mechanism, the combination \vithahinged door provided with a marginal flange, of a flanged member overlappingly engaging said marginal flange and rigidly secured thereto, flanged door stifleners connected to said door adjacent respective edges thercoi and extending from. said flanged member toward the hinge axis of said door, a plurality of door arms secured to said flanged. member and said door stifleners and extending obliquely with respect thereto'and projecting outwardly be yond the said marginal flange of the door, and means movably mounted upon the car body for cooperating with said arms to support said door in closed position.

13. In car door mechanism, the combination with a hinged door, of a flanged mem ber secured to said door adjacent the free edge thereof remote from the hinge axis, a plurality of door stifleners secured to said .door between said flanged member and the hinge axis of the door and extending-at an angle to said axis, a plurality of door supporting arms secured'to said door and passmg beneath said flanged member and projecting outwardly beyond said door, said arms having portions extending obliquelywith respectto said flanged member and said door stifl'eners, and means movably mounted upon the car body for cooperating with said arms to support said door in closed position.

14:. In car door mechanism, the combination with a hinged door, of a flanged mem- Ill) means ber secured to said door adjacent the free edge thereof remote from the hinge axis, flanged door stifi'eners secured to said door adjacent the respective edges thereof and extending at an angle to the hinge axis of the door, a plurality of angle iron door arms projecting outwardly beyond the free edge of said door remote from the hinge axis, said arms having portions extending obliquely with respect to said flanged member and said door stiffeners and engaging and being respectively secured to said flanged member and said stilfeners, and means movably mounted upon the car body for cooperating with said arms to support said door in closed position. I

15. In car door mechanism, the combination with a hinged door, of a door stifi'ener secured thereto and extending from a point adjacent the free edge of the door toward its hinge axis, means carried by said door constituting a lever seat adjacent the outer end of said door stifiener, a plurality of means 'for supporting said door in closed position, said last named means being respectively disposed on opposite sides of said door stiffener, and fulcrum means for cooperating with a lever adapted to engage said seat to force said door to closed position.

16. In car door mechanism, the combination with a hinged door, of a door stiffener secured thereto in a substantially central position, a plurality of door arms projecting outwardly beyond the free edge of said door, said door arms being disposed upon opposite sides of said door stiffener, a plurality of movable means mounted upon a car body for respectively cooperating with said arms to support said door in closed position, means carried by said door forming a lever seat adjacent the outer end of said door stiffener, and means forming a fulcrum for a lever adapted to engage said seat to force said door to closed position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM E. WINE. 

